We love living walls (and the many options available!) ~ found a gorgeous entry way of easily DIYable felt pouches housing strawberries and herbs at Ortofabbrica in Zona Tortona today! Gorgeous and simple, you can sew your own pocket panels with two sheets of felt, make grids across them… and slit them and pop your plants in! See the full installation on the next page!

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Vertical Gardens! I’ve been fascinated by them the last few years, and it’s been fun to watch how they’ve evolved. In both style and ease of installation… so many tools and containers and techniques have popped up! Well, in researching various options to set up my own, Leo Corrales and I got frustrated and inspired and came up with a new NotConcept, merging parts of many we loved into a new design! Whether we’ll make it, is still uncertain, but it sure feels tempting! Combining the Wine Bottle Hydrogarden concept… with a more modular wall like structure… and something fun we could lean against the wall instead of mount… and our favorite big chunky frame look… take a peek on the next page at both our research on Vertical Gardening as well as our idea!!! And let us know what you think, what you’d want in your dream vertical garden, and maybe we’ll keep evolving the idea (or even MAKE one!) But first… to the sketches and renders!

Though we first had these on NOTCOT.org, some things are just more fun in person and up close! Like these Potting Shed Creations Grow Bottles! Cut wine bottles recycled into micro herb hydrogardens! From the felt tongue to soak up the nutrients from the reservoir base, to the clay marbles that sit in the main growing top ~ this doesn’t look quite like any of your other gardening set ups! It’s such a fun gift idea… next step is to see how it grows… but first! An unboxing of the beautifully simple packaging and fun graphics! (As well as a peek into the refill kits!) ~ check it all out on the nextpage!

This post is part of a NOTCOT series on inspiring, independent design thinking, brought to you by Saab. At Saab, we believe in independent thinking. It’s in everything we do. Learn more here.

From surreal bent wood cocoons, to augmented reality projections on the screens outside the pod windows showing you real time views of the Eiffel Tower… even though you are UNDERGROUND… to a stunning living wall… the Six Senses Spa Paris is transformative on so many levels. Oh! And it even has its own secret elevator from the Westin, Place Vendome, for tose who wish to drop down to their subterranean oasis without stepping foot outside. The interior is designed by French architect Pierre David, integrating the elements of light, wood, stone and earth. The vertical garden that greets you as you enter from street level is created by landscape artist Patrick Blanc. The combination of greenery, gorgeous eco-centric design, and technology had me visually inspired as it was… combine one of the most diving massages, and it was hard to leave the cocooned underground haven… if only there were bird’s eye view looks at the Eiffel Tower projected BELOW your head when face down looking through the massage table hole… i kept being tempted to peek to stare at the projected views outside my pod window! See pictures of this Six Senses oasis on the next page!

London always has the best windows! And Justine just did a little exploring and came back with great pics!

Here’s a look at Gorgeous Guerrilla Gardening window series at Selfridges’ Orchard Street side, which launched March 4th. They are filled with gardening goodness, from NOTCOT favorites like seed bombs and the Carrie bike basket, to floral grenades, seeds that burst from umbrellas, old bikes upcycled into transport contraptions, and more! To find out more check out Selfridge’s own press release for the new Spring 2011 windows and the Wonder Windows page at Guerrilla Gardening. Check out the amazing windows on the next page!

Remember when I first wrote about Dan Akroyd’s Crystal Head Vodka almost exactly 2 years ago and people actually thought we were part of the joke propagating across the internet? But it was REAL? And awesomely pretty? Well wandering the supermarket last night i ran into the Crystal Head Vodka Gift Set ~ gorgeous skull bottle paired with two rather large mini skull shot glasses (missing skull caps!) and i couldn’t resist. While they seem EVEN bigger, after testing it out, each skull shot holds about 2.5oz… and that their need for a skull cap… i just couldn’t resist planting some succulents in there! So cute! Succulents in the skull = Skulculents? or Succuskulls? See more pics on the next page! They are way too fun!

Fascinating structures! Designer Patricia Urquiola and Italian inlay, marble and stone company Budri collaboration produced amazing patterns, shapes, textures and an extraordinary modern approach to marble processing. After the Marbleous Garden, the garden of stone, presented by Interni Design Energies and Marmomacc Verona Fiere, Patricia Urquiola leads us through a digital-biological microcosm, a fascinating environment inhabited by natural forms that are usually invisible, those of vegetable micro organisms (the micrasterias). The result of these awesome collaborations have been ‘Marbleus Garden’ in 2009 and ‘Macrosterias’, ‘Algae’ Bench and ‘Curly’ screen in 2010. See more pics on the next page!

Living walls are becoming more and more prevalent recently, and various arrangements have been popping up lately on variations on the concept. Insitu wall planters achieve a living wall through a grid frame to attach pots too which can easily be added to any wall. Made from powder coated steel and finished in either black satin or white gloss enamel, Insitu’s planters are available in a range of five standard sizes. See more images on the next page…

The one thing that i couldn't get out of my head after leaving Dwell On Design - Woolly Pocket Gardening Company, and they adorably cool recycled plastic felty living walls/vertical gardens and planter pockets! It's a brilliant concept that really softens up a space, and such a fun subtle texture to add both indoors and out. These pockets are ready for planting, come in a variety of sizes... and can be both lined on the interior base (so they wont leak onto your walls/etc) or unlined for outdoor use. "Woolly Pockets are flexible, breathable, and modular gardening containers. They`come in two styles: those designed to be placed on horizontal surfaces, and those designed to be hung on walls for vertical gardening. You can use Woolly Pockets both indoors and out; they have built-in moisture barriers to help protect furniture, and they're equally at home outside in the elements"

Also - how adorable is that logo and tag??? Their website + blog have adorable photography as well ~ but for some first hand looks at them, check out more pics on the next page of the various setups and colors all over the Dwell show ~ not only at their booth, but also found at the VIP section and throughout the Outdoor section. I have so many ideas for movable gardens in my patio as well as covering some walls now! See the pics...

p.s.
How perfect would the small table top ones be for fun succulent filled gifts???

I've been obsessing about vertical gardens lately ~ and while most get complex drip systems, bricks of earth magically suspended, and pretty thick installations... i lit up when i stepped into the Valcucine showroom for the Surface Magazine and saw this brilliant idea of a metal grid with little pots hanging from them filled with everything from herbs to strawberries!!! And it looks pretty awesome? Also between all the luxurious sustainable kitchen and furniture ~ they debuted and let us sample the delights of Valcucine's Riciclanta sustainable slow food kitchen... really delicious asparagus soup shots and soup spoons of salad bites... the chefs on hand were incredibly sweet and friendly too! Also really cool to see the little wet pots in person! I think i'm finding it much cuter than the eva solo one i just bought as far as use of space, and the same concept pretty much. See pics of it all on the next page!

I love the fractal nature of succulents. And continuing from yesterday's post... while the plumber was working on the kitchen (Kohler goodies nearly installed), i ended up getting some cactus soil (and juice) and a few more succulents ~ and my mom donated some of her overgrown succulents that were spewing out of their pots to break up ~ soooooo, more fun pics of some inspiring patterns and colors! How crazy does that gummy one look? See more pics on the next page...

UPDATED!!!! Just add more at the bottom of this post since i just ran out to the japanese nurseries to see what i could find... (jump directly to the new pics here)

"Garden's dwarfs are back, but with a brand new role: "guard dwarfs". With an attitude that could hardly be defined as friendly, they shine thanks to the luminescent resin with which they are produced. Absorbing the light for a few moments they release it along the night, becoming small presences in the dark."

How beautiful are these "hand-foiled plant labels" that design*sponge received from The Modern Gardener? They are the most darling popsicle sticks i've ever seen! Handmade by London artist, Kim Jenkins, they come in 10 packs for 5 pounds a pack.

NOTCOT Note: Here's another post from Justine (rugenius) ~ and her adventures in the UK!

Like Fru and Gu, Sheffield's Winter Gardens are something I'd come across earlier in my tenure over here in England, but never had the chance to really explore. I came across them when staying at the Mercure hotel in Sheffield, which is itself indulgently modern. I admired them from the hotel, whose Champagne bar and restaurant flank the gardens, but never actually spent time in the space. On my recent return, the gardens themselves are more than noteworthy.

The Winter Garden is a temperate haven. With its high, sweeping wooden arches and use of natural light, it transforms what is an often gray and dreary South Yorkshire day into a world bathed in soft light. Unlike the heat and humidity we often associated with greenhouses, the interior is cool and dry (and I must admit, reminds me of home!). And the high ceilings provide excellent acoustics, creating a reverential atmosphere and sense of calm (thats right, no reverberating screams of children!). See many beautiful pictures of the interior of this incredible space after the jump!